


Say goodbye, kids!

by JayBarou



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Bad Parenting, Bill is a demon and everyone should remember that., Emotional Manipulation, Fix-It, Gen, Grunkle stan - Freeform, Human!Bill, depending on the point of view
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-02
Updated: 2014-10-02
Packaged: 2018-02-19 15:21:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2393282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JayBarou/pseuds/JayBarou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Mystery Twins are about to be picked up by their parents to leave Gravity Falls for who knows how long! Quickly, someone do something!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Say goodbye, kids!

Dipper and Mabel were looking at the wall. Not just any wall –Gravity Falls had not affected them that much… yet– but they were watching the wall where the clock was hanging next to a calendar. The first of September was circled in red, August was a paper ball that Waddles was nosing to see how eatable it could be, and the twins were wishing the two lost months would stick back to the calendar and never fall again.

Alas, they could almost hear the old engine of their parent’s car in the distance, down the hill, struggling with the dirt road. That noise was worse than any roar or cry they had heard that summer. Soos and Wendy had tried fruitlessly to cheer them up before they had to go back home, and Candy and Glenda had visited the day before, since today was the first was Labor Day and their respective parents had taken them to the last day-trip of the summer.

Dipper had hidden the journal back where he found it and Mabel had given sweaters to everyone. Maybe _given_ was not the right word. Maybe forced the piece of clothing on them like a straight jacket was more accurate. It had been especially hilarious in Pacifica’s case and there was a video to prove it.

Grunkle Stan had been sitting with them until a few minutes ago. He had heard the car and the rain, (because, of course it had to rain on the day they left Gravity Falls) so he had taken a raincoat and big pieces of cardboard before leaving the shack. There was no way for such an old car to climb the hill without help in the middle of the storm.

Despite the delay thanks to the weather, leaving was unavoidable. They had been trying to think of ways to stay and it had been a useless effort. The real reasons why they wanted to stay wouldn’t look sane to their parents, and the fake ones made them sound like whiny kids who wanted a longer summer away from school. And so, the car approaching didn’t make them happy, despite not having seen their parents in a good couple of months. There was just too much weighing them down.

Their parents and Grunkle Stan came through the door with the muffled sound of serious, adult, boring conversation and the squishy sound of mud from their boots sticking to the floor. The twins went to hug the new pair of faces in the Shack without much enthusiasm; they would have been much happier if their parents were just a visit instead of their ride home.

Mr. and Mrs. Pines, on the other hand, were very glad of seeing their children safe and sound (they didn’t know if it was a good idea, sending them to the city where the children’s grandfather had disappeared. However, they didn’t know what else to do; they had run out of options. Summer-camps had been mysteriously full that year, _all_ the camps), so they hugged their pair of troublemakers without realizing that they were not being hugged back as much as usual.

But the children’s bad mood was overflowing. It was especially obvious for their Grunkle Stan, who had had to keep his attention focused on the brats despite the impression he gave off and had learnt their tells. However, their melancholy was so open that even their parents noticed. Stan knew that it was deliberate; if the twins wanted, they could be very good hiding their feelings, much like their grandfather; their parents weren’t twins, they wouldn’t notice anything if the two didn’t want them to.

“Oh, don’t worry; you can come back next summer.” Mrs. Pines said, making it look as if she was reading their minds. Of course, she couldn’t know that mind-reading was real, but for Stan, it was just another way in which the kids wouldn’t be happy when they went back.

“But, Waddles!” Mabel complained, squeezing the pig that would stay in the Shack, since there was no space back home. And for Mabel _home_ had started to feel strange when it didn’t mean the Mystery Shack.

“Next summer could be too late!” Dipper chimed.

It _could:_ the city could explode, be taken over dinosaurs, or ghosts, or worse, like small Giddeons everywhere! But their parents only laughed; even the little pig looked crestfallen.

“Well, in that case, maybe we could come back for Christmas!” Was the only concession their father made. “If uncle Stan wants us here.”

Grunkle Stan was handing towels to them so they could dry their hair.

“These two have brought nothing but trouble! Why would I let them come back ever again?” Mabel pouted and Dipper started a “but…” before their Grunkle laughed, maybe a bit brokenly, but nobody was going to notice _that_. “You should have seen your faces! Of course you can come.” He ruffled their hair “I wouldn’t mind having them here the whole year. It is always harder to find tourists to con out of the summer season, and kids would be the perfect bait.” which was Grunkle Stan’s way of saying that he was going to be lonely and that he would miss them. However, their parents didn’t know him as much as the twins did, so they thought it was a joke. “I’m going to get their luggage.”

Mabel was sure that he was going to take a while bringing their luggage down, despite being able to contain a swarm of zombies on his own.

“Mum, I don’t see why we can’t stay.” Dipper tried once again.

“You need to go back to school, dear.” It was the same answer that they had given on the phone, but hearing it from a mouth made it more absolute than a speaker. Still, Dipper tried.

“But, last time I checked I was better than our math teacher, and our art teacher asked Mabel for tips about arts and crafts.” Mabel nodded emphatically “And we have read more books than our whole class together.” Dipper omitted that some of those books were about vampires and glittery vampires (which were a different genre altogether).

“You still need to go back. I know you two are bored in class, but you need to learn other things too.” Their father was being final. They had had the same discussion several times already; they couldn’t be ahead of the children of their age, because genius kids always ended up having mental problems. Their father didn’t like that they were above average.

Ihdu li brx vhh klp,

Dipper hung his head resigned as the last traces of fight left him, Mabel, next to him, was ready to pick up the towel where he had thrown it, even if she knew it wouldn’t change a thing, but they had grown so much closer during the summer, and she wanted to support him. However, she was robbed of that chance when they heard a knocking on the doorpost; someone was already in the same room as them, and he was using a cane to call their attention. The twins had never seen the blond, smiling man, but when he entered he moved like he owned the Shack.

“Where do you think you are going, you, pair of nightmares? And without saying goodbye too! Rude!” The stranger saw their parents and his grin brightened up even more. “You must be their creators. Congratulations! You made two magnificent beasties.”

Dipper was sure that he knew that voice, but it sounded too simple. Something didn’t let him recognize the man immediately even though he knew he should. His parents were introducing themselves, smiling, talking about their children in _that_ way as if they weren’t right there. Their father extended a hand to shake, but the other man looked at it as if he didn’t know what to do. After an uncomfortable long time, he opened his eyes comically –eye? Dipper felt somewhat confused– and looked back at their parents.

“Oh! Oh! I know what that is for! Sorry, I’m misophobic, see?” The stranger showed his hands with black gloves on them. Had he been wearing gloves before? Dipper was still wondering why he had the impression that the stranger only had one eye when he clearly had both. Meanwhile, the adults had carried on with the conversation.

“Yes, they can be a bit forgetful when they are nervous; it is not strange that they forgot to mention that we were picking them up today.” Great, their parents were being _nice._

“I don’t think so. I have not seen them being forgetful this summer. I think I’m a special case, because they have been fantastic kids in every possible way.” Fantastic? Who was that guy? Where had they seen him? And, more important, where had _he_ seen _them_?

“Please, do tell us, my uncle has been cagey and their letters have been, well, kid letters, you know how it is.” Dipper hated when their parents spoke as if they were deaf, and he knew that Mabel hated it even more.

“Yes, I know. I’m a teacher; I’ve seen how different the world is for parents and children.” A teacher? They had not met any teachers, not that they knew. Maybe he had a summer job?

“Really?” Apparently their parents were decided to be polite to this absolute stranger.

“Oh, yes, I have a lot of experience, and let me tell you, your kids are brilliant, and they have improved so much this summer.” He placed himself behind the twins, with his hands almost touching their shoulders, but not making contact, only hovering there and making the hairs in their napes stand. “When they came they were isolated, Mabel was busy with her stuff and Dipper missed his videogames…” Wait. Both hands on their shoulders… Where was the cane?

“Yes, they do that a lot and they are very clever, so they are usually alone in class…” Their mother made it sound as if she was apologizing, as if she was ashamed of them, and Dipper remembered all of a sudden the reason he liked videogames so much. From the corner of his eye he saw that Mabel was hugging Waddles a little tighter.

“That might be the case in the city, but here they changed very much in two days.” The blond stranger had a chipper voice, but it was lower now, and a bit more formal. The twins had the distinct feeling that there was something bad going right over their heads, and not because it was adult stuff “Suddenly, they had friends of all ages, they hardly ever played videogames and they have been working very hard to understand the city. Dare I say, they have become part of it.”

Dipper knew that their parents were worried about their reclusive behavior, their lack of friends…

“They have become experts in the creatures from the woods in no time at all! They have been exploring and learning orientation.”

 …and about them not having enough fresh air.

“And Mabel has brought all kind of pets. She saved a fish that had gotten stuck in a pool out of the lake, the _cow_ that is terrorizing the woods…” Wait, what? How did he know…? “and she saved the lobster that you see in that fish tank, for example, and waddles, that would have ended up dismembered and crispy, and she has taken such a good care of all of them!”

Their parents also worried about Mabel bringing stray animals that they had to give to the shelter the next day (and Mabel was not stupid, she knew what happened to the animals she ‘saved’ and she spent weeks faking her smile convincingly)…

“They have been working together in little projects all over the city!”

Their parents were also worried because Mabel and Dipper didn’t work or play much together despite being siblings…

Why did that stranger know so much about them? How had he gotten into the Mystery Shack? Why was Dipper _not_ panicking? Who was that man and why weren’t the twins shouting that they didn’t know him?

“And Dipper has been the most active boy I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting! Working so hard with Stan and running all around; always helping someone…”

Their parents were concerned too because he spent too much time with books and screens and didn’t exercise enough. It was oddly eerie; it seemed that the guy was in their parent’s minds, soothing their fears…

Dipper blinked several times, looking at the floor to think harder because there was something weird on display and his thinking was foggy; the floor was much easier on his thought process. He saw his parent’s feet, his own shadow, his sister’s, and he realized that the stranger’s shadow should be right there… but wasn’t.

As a flood, he noticed the other things; the stranger was not wet, his shoes didn’t leave a trail of mud, he had not touched anyone since he came in. As a ghost, as something supernatural, something not made of matter, only energy…

“And they have been learning and collaborating in all kind of crazy things, I overheard the Mayor mentioning that they would create an annual puppet festival inspired in a show that Mabel did some weeks ago. And Dipper has learnt cryptography, and binary code there is no cipher that resists him!”

ihdu li brx grq'w,

“Cipher!” Dipper half-shouted looking at Mabel as she came to the same conclusion. Of course, the eye was not there, the disappearing cane, he couldn’t touch; probably an illusion, and the mind-reading, and the voice! It didn’t have an echo now, like in the mindscape, that’s why he didn’t recognize it…

“Wait a second, kids, adults are talking now.” The not-so-much-a-stranger-anymore said, putting a _human_ finger to his _human_ lips. The twins couldn’t talk, literally too! All of a sudden they didn’t _want_ to talk.

“Oh! That is fantastic! They will definitely come next year, right?” Their mother said cheerfully.

“Sure! But we have not heard your name yet!” Their father added in an equally good mood.

“Oh! Where are my manners? I’m William. I met Stan and his brother a long time ago and when my business crossed paths with Stan this summer, these two little nightmares were so protective over their Grunkle, that I couldn’t help but keep track of them. I’ve been a bit of a pain in the neck for them since then.” Their parents laughed with Bill, once again not understanding how true that statement was.

“I’m glad they had someone who was looking out for them, besides Stan. He has a good heart, but he is getting old.” Mrs Pines said, checking that Grunkle Stan was not around to hear.

“The whole city was looking out for them in some way or another.” Bill answered cryptically. “We are a small community and we like keeping _an eye_ on people that could get _too close_ to dangerous things.” And now Bill was totally having a conversation with them as well as with his parents, if the tone of voice was anything to go by “Plus, the city has practically fallen in love with their charm since they came here.”

Their mother smiled warmly. Teachers usually praised her kids’ intelligence, ability… but it was obvious for her that this city loved her children as much as she did. Their regular teachers didn’t like them; the twin’s teachers were usually very annoyed, because the twins misbehaved when they were bored. Mabel knitted under her desk and Dipper read or played videogames instead of paying attention.

However they had straight “A”s when they took the exams the second time, once they bothered to look at the exams. The teacher-parents reunions were always full of dry compliments about the kid’s ability to not pay attention and still pass, not one of the teachers had ever said that the children were charming, and the fact that this stranger had, made her swell with pride. Also, the twins liked it here in return, which is what moved her to say:

“That is fantastic! If the deadline wasn’t over I would be tempted to enroll them in this school.”

“Why not homeschooling?” Bill suggested sweetly.

“What do you mean?” She retorted, starting to feel coned.

“Well, they are intelligent, and here they have friends, I don’t see why not. With someone to guide them in their studies, they could learn even more than in regular classes.”

Dipper and Mabel exchanged looks, still not _wanting_ to talk or to warn their parents against talking to a humanized demon. But they could see disaster just around the corner.

“I mean, if you are already considering it… I can see that you want the best for your children. Maybe the best is letting them be everything they can be.” Bill was still using that sweet tone, slightly condescending, as if their mother was less than a child and he had to make her understand very slowly. Their father just looked transfixed with something that only he could see.

“Oh, well, I don’t know…” Their mother looked confused.

“Why? Are you saying our humble city is not good enough for them?”

Dipper could almost see the red furious eye behind the human mask _and_ the polite mask.

“No! Not that! Gravity Falls is a quaint little city. But we would miss them if they were away for too long.” Their mother replied sensibly.

“But are you going to put yourself before their best interests?” Bill sounded SO threatening then “This city is very obviously good for them, they want to stay. Are you going to put your selfish wishes before their own needs? Are you going to prevent them from being happy?”

And woa, Bill, that was not cool! Your demon is showing. Emotional manipulation only works on sleep-deprived kids, now it was obvious, right? Why wasn’t their mother seeing how he played with her feelings? But Dipper couldn’t tell their mum that, he couldn’t say a thing, and he couldn’t kick their father out of his trance-like state, he couldn’t do anything that had to do with their parents. He could call for Grunkle Stan, but he needed to leave their parents alone with Bill for that, and that was not happening. Therefore, their mother fell right for it.

iru klv pdgqhvv lv julp

“Maybe, but where are we going to find a tutor so late? It is impossible, in such a small city… who is going to care enough, to invest so much time and effort? Besides, we are not rich, we can’t pay such a thing. You probably know it, right?” She looked apologetic again.

“It is true, not many would take such a task.” Bill seemed deflated “I don’t know anyone who would do it.”

Before their parents could breath and relax, Bill used the ace up his sleeve that the twins knew he was saving for dramatic effect.

“But I wouldn’t mind doing it! They are lovely, I don’t care for the money, and I already know their _tricks_ , how their _minds work_ … teaching them would be a piece of cake.”

Their parents looked at each other. They looked uncomfortable, but convinced, which made Dipper think that there had not been any spell involved, just words and Bill, which was a bad enough combination. But then, why were they convinced? Why had his father looked so out of the conversation? As if he was already planning, imagining the possibilities…

“So, what do you say? You give me your children and I teach them everything they need to know.” Bill showed his hand, something not human, not an illusion, something that their parents would be able to touch. A blue hue shone on his glove, like a more discrete version of his trademark deal-fire.

Dipper tried to shout, Mabel tied to prevent the deal jumping up and down, but they couldn’t talk to their parents, who were now smiling to each other and very much about to shake his hand. In a split second Dipper thought of a way to trick the spell.

“Bill! Your phobia!” He shouted.

Their father withdrew his hand, while their mother even stepped back at the shout and Bill closed his hand in a fist, drawing his arm close to his chest with a smile that spoke volumes.  

“What did I tell you! Clever boy!” He had a mad, dangerous glint in the only eye that Dipper could concentrate on.

Bill took a step forward, leaving his spot behind their backs to face them properly and giving his back now to their parents, who were promptly and completely ignored by the demon. He was amused and it showed on his face, as if the deal Dipper had interrupted was nothing, as if everything had been staged to scare them.

“What do you say?” and now that the ones he had to fool were behind him, every trace of humanity left the demon. Oh, Bill still looked human, but you wouldn’t ever mistake him for one. “Pine Tree?” he looked at Dipper, “Shooting Star?” he looked at Mabel, grin in place. Both of them noticed that the shack looked a little grey. Not as black and white as the mindscape, but a middle ground.

Surprisingly, Bill was not offering his hand this time. He was looking at them, standing with his arms on his back, balancing on the balls of his feet and softly chuckling, giving off the feeling that he had already won. Their parents were a strange sight behind Bill’s back, they looked a little grey too, and they looked vaguely interested, but nowhere near as scared as they should (and would) be if they knew exactly who was between their children and them.

“You get to stay in Gravity Falls, they get to leave Gravity Falls alive and we get to spend some quality time together.” Bill said, acquiring for a second his usual echo voice.

Why didn’t their parents see the creepy looks? The smirk and the suspicious comments were not clear enough? Nobody had to jump to the conclusion that he was a demon, but why didn’t they see that he was a dangerous person, an unreliable person, a sociopath that they shouldn’t trust?

“Deal?” He repeated, folding his arms, this time in front of his chest, knowingly.

And that was the problem, wasn’t it? Bill was not dealing with their parents; that was never his intention. For some reason, he wanted to deal with the twins. And it was such a sweet deal. What was the drawback? Spending time with one of their enemies; just time! No obedience, not ownership, not even actually listening to him. Just time. And there had to be a bigger drawback hidden, because he was not offering a real deal, just a human deal.

But he was also treating them as real people and the twins had become addicted to that feeling. Bill, but also Stan, Soos, Wendy… all of them treated them as complete people; their parents treated them like their babies, their little children, to send them away on summer and to decide if they came back or not without even asking.

And then there was Bill, who was asking them directly, or threatening. However, Dipper had become very good at wording since their last deal, so he noticed how the threat was not in the end or the beginning, so it was not very emphatic.

But how could they be sure that Bill was not planting ideas in their minds?

Next to him, Mabel was looking at Waddles and out of the window at the stormy evening. It was so dark that many buildings had turned on the lights, as if they were fending against the shadows coming from the woods; the picture was sad if that was the last they would see of Gravity Falls.

li kh ilqgv brx dorqh.

“Deal,” Mabel said very serious looking at Bill, who had a triumphant smile on his face “if Dipper agrees.” Both of them looked at him then and Dipper couldn’t care less about his parents in that moment. They would survive whether the twins agreed or not, he would make sure of that. Instead, he could only look at his sister and how miserable she would be if they had to leave now. Dipper had given up many things for his sister; he had thrown sanity and caution out of the window for her. Was he going to risk their lives for one of her whims again?

Then Dipper sneaked a glance at Bill, patiently expectant in the corner of his eye. No, this was not about Mabel and what she wanted; he would be fooling himself if he made his choice based on her. Gravity Falls was not safe, they wouldn’t ever be completely safe again if he agreed to this.

“Deal” But, of course, this was not about safety either; this was about how desperately he wanted to stay and keep seeing things like Bill.

Bill, who was wearing a thousand watts smile. Bill, who asked their parents if they could pay in gold. Bill, who ushered their parents to sit at the kitchen. Bill, who crossed paths with Grunke Stan when he was sweating and setting the suitcases next to the front door with red-rimmed eyes. Bill, who told Stan in a singing voice that he should put the suitcases back where they were because the kids were going to stay forever.

At that point, Stan hissed something like “what … you … my _home_?” at Bill’s back before stomping into the room were the twins were still debating if they had done the right thing. “You _had_ to make a deal with the only creature whose page is covered in blood.” He fumed.

“You know Bill?” Mabel asked, setting Waddles free once again.

“Where do you think the eye-patch came from?” He thundered. “You couldn’t choose any of the nice creatures, no. You couldn’t leave and stay out of trouble, no. You had to call the stupid triangle. I knew that you wouldn’t keep your promise as soon as I gave you the journal back.” Stan picked them up from their ears “But of all the things, you had to call to Bill Annoying Cipher? There is no God.” Stan sighed in between ows and aws from his nephews, deciding then and there that they wouldn’t survive without a crash course on magic by Stan the magnificent, and he dragged them to the kitchen with him. “Come on, let’s see that your parents don’t sell their souls for a glass of orange juice.”


End file.
